The last friendly played by FC Barcelona first team in Dallas was a highly profitable affair for the club. The Catalans earned around €5 million from this exhibition match played in the States, which would definitely come in handy for an entity that is going through a difficult time economically.
The Spanish publication SPORT has provided some details on how much money the first team earns for the club, and how much it costs to keep the team operational, providing some interesting insights on its financial affairs.
The report mentions that Xavi’s team earned the club around €598 million in the last season. €116 million of this income came from participation in competitions, i.e. La Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League, Europa League, and friendlies.
€45 million came from subscribers and partners. Another €204 million from television and broadcasting rights. €232.6 million from marketing and advertising activities, and, lastly, €256,000 from the provision of services.
The lowest income is generated by subscribers and members, as they contribute only 5% to the club’s total revenue. The costs of maintaining the first team, including the sporting and non-sporting staff, exceeded €470 million last season.
The first team’s travel expenses are whopping in themselves, as the club spent €3.5 million last year. This amount reaches up to €11.4 million if these expenses are aggregated for all the Catalan club’s teams. Significant amounts of money were also contributed by teams other than the first football team of Barcelona.
For instance, the club’s basketball team brought in €17 million, while the women’s first team brought in €13.5 million. The handball team got €2.8 million, and futsal and roller hockey both brought in €1.3 million.
From among these teams, only the women’s football team was the one whose income exceeded its expenses. The rest of the teams were all going in a loss.
